Asia S. Hinton

Member(since February 2011)

Hi my name is Asia Hinton. I am a senior at Towson University with a major in Mass Communications and a minor in English; however, I am specifically interested in television broadcast. I am a proud member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars at Towson and my goal is to one day become an anchor at a broadcast news station.

This article is good journalism because it definitely brings insight to the idea of food stamps. I thought this was an important article to share because with the government thinking of making food stamps eligible to fast food restaurants, the idea of people fraudulently using food stamps is something the government should consider before allowing citizens to use food stamps at restaurants. This is also good journalism because the article does not take a particular stance on the issue, it simple tells the facts and opinion of others, remaining unbiased towards the situation.

While this article does touch on the topic of food stamps, the entire article is not based on the candidate’s idea of the President and his use of food stamps. In part this is consider good journalism because the title of the article draws the reader in, but on the other hand, the article does not specifically focus on the idea of the President and food stamps which makes it a little untruthful; it seems more like a campaign ad for the candidate to draw attention to himself. I do like however, the sources that were quoted although some quotes may be considered quit controversial.

I give this story quit a high rating not because of how well it was or was not written, but the different stance the writer chose to take. Previously I posted two articles on the same topic and the both discussed much of the same thing, but this article while it does have the same topic, it chose to take a different perspective on the issue, talking of how it will affect taxpayers and the health of those that receive such benefits. This I think deserves a high score because it went beyond talking about what and why companies want to implement this new idea.

Again this is good journalism because it’s bringing vast information on a topic that is of grave importance and can have a huge impact on many people. I do like that this article did site someone who did not agree with the idea, making the article a bit balanced.

I do agree that this is good journalism, primarily because one example of good journalism is informing citizens of what is happening in our neighborhoods and around the world, and this article does exactly that. This article does provide insight on what’s happening now, but I can say its slightly one sided because it only quotes individuals who agree with making food stamps applicable to restaurants, it does not give site to those that oppose the idea.

This story was well written and touched on every point imaginable. While I can say that it was a bit lengthy it kept me on the edge of my seat with every word. City schools was a topic that I was thinking of exploring for a class project and after reading this article it makes me want to delve into the cause even more. I learned a great deal of information from this article and a lot of changes have been made in the city school system that I was unaware of. This story is one that should definitely be read not only for its content but it’s a great example of the different types of sources that adds to the detail of a story. This story is a great one for teachers to show to their beginning journalism students.

I would recommend this story primarily because of the context. I agree that vacant homes are a huge problem in Baltimore City and one that deters many from moving here. The writer also did have a lot of context and sources; however, the one thing I might have tweaked is having the quote a little further up. This is just my opinion, but when I read a story, I want a little of the facts, someone speaking on then (mainly a quote) a little more facts, and so one. But again hopefully this story shines some light on an issue that is not widely looked at.

Stealing newspapers from a college is kind of a “raw-deal”. There should have been better ways of expression frustration. However, the article was informative, especially since I am a Towson student. It was well written, but there was one section that stated that an incident like this has happened before, unless the editor was being cautious of space, I do think that he could have added a small excerpt of the previous case in which the newspapers were stolen, just to give a bit of history. The use of quotes and dates were well used, and also telling the normal amount of newspaper circulation was a good addition, since it lets readers know how many papers were stolen.

Disclosure: Asia is involved in this story (review not included in overall rating).

I strongly do not believe that this is good journalism. The story was suppose to focus on Mfume choosing not to run, however, allegations of him womanizing, in my opinion was completely irrelevant. Also the writer's choice of words are one that I do not agree with. When Mfume said he will not run the writer states, "...thereby narrowing the mayoral field of hopefuls to former Planning Department chief Otis Rolley, City Councilman Carl Stokes (D-12th), ex-Councilman Jody Landers, and perennial candidate Clerk of the Circuit Court Frank M. Conaway". This wording in my opinion states that Mfume was not considered a "hopeful" one. I may be taking the sentence too far into context, however, thats what writers need to look for, they ... More »

This is an excellent story, and by far one of the best sourced stories that I have read on NewsTrust. The writer of this story really did her homework. She has sources ranging from local organizations as BMoreFit to national organizations as in Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign. The writer also has numerous examples and valuable information for the reader. She explains the type of diabetes that can result from obesity and she even provides the standard body mass index for children. The only complaints that I have is that at the top of the article the writer has a picture of a young man who was once obese but has now lost weight. However, the young man’s name or story is not mention until 29 paragraphs down. In my ... More »

Although this story is short, it has various sources and opinions from people of both sides. Opinions include people who are in congress, religious officials, as well as people who have committed crimes and families of those who are victims of crimes. This story is also accompanied by a video which is also a great asset.

I began following this story when it was first published on February 16, 2011. Initially the texting bill only prohibited texting while driving, but it did not include reading text while driving (which I believe is as dangerous as texting,) but now congress have finally took the time to cover all aspects of texting and reading texts while driving, which also now includes reading emails. The bill also specified that a motorist can be ticketed even if reading a text or email while at a stop sign or stop light. While this story is interesting, mainly because it shows that the writer is continuing to follow up on legislative bills, it’s informative with a lot of accredited sources. However, just as in the previous story written, ... More »

This story is a bit lengthy but is has all the elements of good journalism. There are extensive examples of the kinds of dance and a brief description of each. There are also various quotes from the subjects, the story even plays on a past article written by the Baltimore Sun. It also does a great job in describing the emotion and passion of the two subjects in the story. Only suggestion I may have (which many of my teachers at Towson tell me to do) is for the writer to possibly interview someone who is thinking of attending the performance. Overall the story was edited well, and I love the ending quote which ties the story back to its introduction.

In my opinion this is not good journalism. Judging from the picture and the title of the story readers are lead to believe that the story is about the Obama’s and racial tension related to their visit; however, the story focuses on racial tension of the townsfolk and the Brazilians.
Not only does the title and picture not capture what the story is actually about, the story is also unorganized and confusing to the reader. For example, the story in the beginning focuses on the increasing availability of jobs for illegal immigrants, than it jumps to a killing of a girl, then it’s followed with a quote by a resident who complains about the lack of jobs.
Furthermore, this story is not balance because it only has quotes from ... More »

I believe this story exhibits good journalism. Not only was the story interesting, but it brought about many facts that were unknown to me. For example, I did not know that it was only illegal to text while driving, not including reading a text. The story also has various sources and information that make the story seem credible; and as we all know credibility is key. The story was also written in an easy to read format. There were little to no errors that I found in the story, meaning that the writer and the editor did a great job writing and proofreading. However, I do believe that the writer of the story could have offered more links; only links provided were that of cell phones, and AAA; some links the writer could have used ... More »